Hampton's open-road tolling ready for holiday weekend traffic

HAMPTON — The future of electronic tolling will make its debut to drivers this Memorial Day weekend.

Charles McMahon

HAMPTON — The future of electronic tolling will make its debut to drivers this Memorial Day weekend.

Beginning Friday, May 28, at 4 a.m. E-ZPass subscribers may cruise through the Hampton tolls at 65 miles per hour.

The new technology marks the first of its kind in the Northeast. Known as Open Road Tolling (ORT), the high-speed toll option is expected to initially be available to drivers using E-ZPass on I-95 during the holiday weekend in an effort to handle the anticipated heavy traffic. The option will be available until 4 a.m. Tuesday, June 1, and will reopen permanently beginning June 15.

Friday morning's debut comes nearly 10 months after construction began on the $18.3 million project.

The state Department of Transportation invited members of the media to tour the electronic tolling facility on Thursday.

“This is a historic milestone for toll collection in New Hampshire and the Northeast,” said DOT Commissioner George Campbell. “For the first time in 60 years, our electronic tolling customers will be able to travel through the Hampton tolls at highway speeds. The five-mile backups at certain times of the year at Hampton will be a thing of the past.”

In attendance on Thursday were various members of the DOT, including spokesman Bill Boynton and Turnpikes Bureau Administrator Christopher Waszczuk.

Boynton said the project involves the conversion of six plaza lanes to four open road lanes — two interior lanes in each direction. Using state-of-the-art equipment attached to gantries hanging overhead the four open road lanes, the DOT will be able to monitor vehicles as they pass through using cameras and invisible detection equipment, he said

There will be a total of 12 lanes in use — six in each direction — for both cash paying and E-ZPass customers.

Open road lanes can process nearly five times as many vehicles as conventional cash tolls and 60 percent more traffic than a dedicated E-ZPass lane where drivers must slow down to pass through, said Boynton.

With the learning curve expecting to take some time for drivers Boynton used words of caution for those who end up in the lane without intending to do so.

“If you somehow end up in the E-ZPass lanes and you're not an E-ZPass pass customer do not stop, these are highway speeds,” said Boynton. “Absolutely do not stop, keep going.”

Boynton said violators will be sent a bill for the toll amount in the mail, plus a $1 administration fee.

Waszczuk lauded the efforts it took to bring the project in on time and under budget. Saying it typically takes three to four years to complete a project, Waszczuk said the entire effort, including engineering, involved a 17-month time frame.

The project was paid for with additional turnpike funds — which was made possible by a 50-cent increase at the Hampton tolls last July, bringing it to $2 each way.

Workers logged more than 50,000 man hours to complete the project, said Waszczuk.

The high-speed tolls should alleviate safety concerns and mitigate drivers “weaving” in and out of lanes as they approach the toll plaza, he said.

Chronic congestion experienced during holiday weekends should be drastically affected as well, he said.

“From a congestion standpoint, we anticipate the miles long back-ups to be eliminated,” he said.

In addition to reduced lines and improved service for E-ZPass customers, the high-speed lanes are also expected to improve air quality by reducing emission caused by idling by nearly 25 percent, said Waszczuk. Gas consumption is also expected to be lessened by nearly 25 percent, he added.

Drivers who normally seek diversions from the tolls due to the heavy congestion are expected to come back as well.

“We estimate people who divert, will be attracted back,” said Waszczuk.

Amanda Rae, supervisor of the Hampton toll plaza, said aside from the improvement in congestion, the new system should alleviate the annoyance factor for drivers who traditionally take it out on her employees.

“It (backups) can go for miles and people get upset,” said Rae. “I think it's going to be a great thing for them to not have to sit in those lines anymore.”

Throughout the long holiday weekend, signage will alert drivers nearly two miles from the toll plaza in both directions. After this weekend the signs will be covered and then displayed once again when the system opens up again on June 15.

A similar project is in the works for the Hooksett Toll Plaza and is scheduled to be completed by Memorial Day 2012.

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